New regulations for handling wild animals after "fasting order": alien species shall not be released to nature
Surging news reporter Diao Fanchao
After the "fasting order" for wild animals is issued, how to deal with the wild animals in the farm will be of great concern.
On April 9th, Dr. Sun Quanhui, a scientist of the World Animal Protection Association, explained in an interview with the Surging News (www.thepaper.cn) that according to the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Law, unauthorized release of wild animals shall bear corresponding legal responsibilities. Some alien species are strictly forbidden to release, and the serious circumstances will constitute a criminal offense.
Sun Quanhui said that local species should not be released at will. It is necessary to assess the carrying capacity of the environment, whether the food is sufficient, and the impact on the wild population, etc., otherwise it may affect the ecological environment and the production and life of local residents. In addition, artificially-bred animals may have problems such as inbreeding and cross-breeding, accumulating more harmful genes, and entering the wild environment may affect the genetic diversity of wild populations.
"Cultivated wild animals may be exotic species, carry pathogenic microorganisms or do not have the ability to survive in the wild, so they cannot be released at will, otherwise it will increase hidden dangers in ecological safety, public health and safety." Sun Quanhui said, whether wild animals can be released Returning to the wild requires a scientific assessment, including whether the animals are healthy, whether they have the ability to survive independently in the wild, whether they are alien species, whether they have a suitable habitat, whether the release time, season, and climate are appropriate; what are the local populations and other animals? Influence etc.
Just the day before, the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau issued a notice on the follow-up work of fasting wild animals (Lin Hufa [2020] No. 42), requesting the local forestry and grassland authorities to accurately grasp the actual situation and scientifically assess the impact of fasting. Wild animals under cultivation after fasting shall be properly disposed of according to the habits and characteristics of various species, including scientific implementation of naturalization and conversion to non-edible legal uses. Exotic species shall not be released or harmlessly treated. Kinds of ways.
The notice clearly states that for wild animals with natural distribution in China, the natural distribution area or historical distribution area of the species with a good habitat should be selected, and the number of releases should be controlled within the scientifically calculated habitat capacity, and health observation and detection should be conducted on the released individuals. And make adaptive preparations, and the plan of returning to nature can only be implemented after scientific demonstration, to ensure that it does not cause ecological hazards; for large inventory, exceeding the capacity of local habitats, the forestry and grassland competent departments at and above the provincial level coordinate cross-regional and phased coordination Decentralized implementation in batches and return to nature.
For wildlife under cultivation with medicinal and ornamental value, the work of administrative licensing and information services should be expedited in accordance with the law and regulations, and the stocks should be digested faster.
Foreign wild animals that are abandoned by farmers in the fasting range shall not be allowed to return to nature. They may be entrusted to be raised or handed over to qualified shelters and rescue agencies. In the future, they shall be reasonably allocated according to the needs of scientific research and popular science education.
For the wild animals under cultivation that can not be dealt with by the above three measures, timely harmless treatment shall be carried out.